April 3, 2005

George Felos is Michael Schiavo’s attorney, and he’s also been the attorney for other “pull the tube” cases, most notably that of Estelle Browning in the early 1990s. He has been very active in the “right-to-die” movement, and was on the board of the Woodside Hospice until right before Terri was taken there.

He has also written a book about spirituality, lawyering, and how his spirituality leads him to advocate for “pull the tube” deaths. His book is entitled Litigation as Spiritual Practice, and it is, well, a bit weird. Just as he accused to Schindlers of being “religious fanatics” this book reveals him to be a “spirituality fanatic.” An excellent review, iwth excerpts, is here. A teaser:

Describing himself as a â€œspiritual aspirant for close to twenty-five yearsâ€ (page x), itâ€™s clear from Felosâ€™ book that his spirituality drives his law practice, as well as the rest of his life. Itâ€™s also clear that his spirituality is enormously important to his views on death and dying. In fact, Felosâ€™ spiritual awakening, as described in detail, is closely tied to his emerging interest in the subject of death and dying.

A fervent practitioner and teacher of yoga and meditation, Felos is a syncretistic religionist who mixes diverse religious traditions â€“ including generous citations from the Bible and references to Jesus Christ â€“ creating a composite of his own spiritual worldview. He believes â€œevolution of consciousnessâ€ is â€œour ultimate salvationâ€ (xiv).
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The Browning â€œright-to-dieâ€ case was the first legal appointment Felos had after his retreat and he found the case to be a â€œblessing rather than a coincidenceâ€ in light of his â€œrecently acquired fascination with death and dyingâ€ (61). …
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Felos later discusses the â€œcosmic law of cause and effectâ€ in which he argues that human beings create their own realities with their minds and have the power to change their reality with their minds â€“ including causing a new, dream car to appear â€œout of the etherâ€ (178-179). He illustrates the truth of the spiritual principle by explaining how he once caused a plane to suddenly descend, causing chaos for the crew and passengers, when he pondered, â€œI wonder what it would be like to die right now?â€ The pilot later explained that the auto pilot computer program mysteriously quit working, resulting in the sudden descent. â€œAt that instant a clear, distinctly independent and slightly stern voice said to me, â€˜Be careful what you think. You are more powerful than you realize.â€™ In quick succession I was startled, humbled and blessed by Godâ€™s admonishmentâ€ (181-182).
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Felos clearly believes in reincarnation and even discusses a conversation with his yet-to-be-conceived, unborn son, who told Felos, â€œIâ€™m ready to be bornâ€¦will you stop this fooling around!â€ (75). He cites this experiences as proof of the validity of perhaps the most bizarre claim in the book concerning what he calls a â€œsoul-speakâ€ conversation he claims to have had with Browning â€“ the patient in the â€œright-to-dieâ€ case. While she never uttered an audible sound, Felos writes that he was able to communicate with the radically debilitated stroke victim who could not talk. He writes:

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As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it and would respond to the unfortunate resident. In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning.

I felt the mid-section of my body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, â€˜Why am I still here â€¦ Why am I here?â€™ My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked in her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. With that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again, the room resumed its normal appearance, and Mrs. Browning, as she had throughout this experience, lay silent (73).

So, this George Felos thinks he can communicate with people who ought to die because they can’t communicate, and thinks he can control airplanes with “the spiritual principle.”